Chapter 2 Bra Lost
Leila sat in the bathtub, replaying the events of the evening in her mind. From every drink she had at the celebration banquet, every person she interacted with, to meeting Mason later on. Finally, she narrowed her suspicions down to the waiter who handed her the juice.
All the drinks she had tonight were taken from the table, so it couldn’t have been drugged. After all, the person who drugged couldn’t be sure she’d choose that specific glass. The only exception was the juice from that waiter.
Now that she thought about it, she realized she’d been too careless. But it was too late for her to react now. Those cunning old farts wouldn’t leave any evidence for her to investigate.
Thankfully, she ran into Mason…
Thinking of Mason, Leila involuntarily furrowed her brows slightly.
Leila had actually crossed paths with Mason before. The memory of that encounter was still vivid in her mind. It was quite humiliating…
At that time, she was still the fiancee of Hunter Brooks, the Vice President of Ascend Group. Hunter, in his pursuit of climbing the social ladder, had shamelessly pushed her to go drink with Mason.
Leila didn’t confront him on the spot, but her expression must have been quite telling at the time.
Mason had reached out to her then, leaning in close to whisper in her ear, “Don’t worry, it’s just a drink. I’m not that kind of guy…”
Lost in her memories, Leila’s phone suddenly rang from the shelf nearby.
Seeing her mother’s name on the caller ID, she answered, “Mom.”
“Leila, are you home?” Mrs. Patel’s concerned voice came through the phone.
Leila said, “Yeah, I’m home, in the bath. Mom, how have you been lately?”
Mrs. Patel hesitated briefly at Leila’s words, then chuckled as she replied, “I’m doing fine. It’s all my fault, I’m sorry, dear. Your dad’s disappearance left behind so much debt, and it’s all on you now.”
As Leila listened to her mother’s words, memories from a few years ago flashed through her mind-thugs barging into their home, brandishing sticks and shouting threats.
“Your dad went bankrupt, he ran away. He mortgaged everything to us. There’s still seventy million in debt left, and it’s on both of you to pay it off…”
The recollection, combined with tonight’s ordeal, caused Leila’s eyes to suddenly well up with tears.
“And there’s still no news about Dad?”
This time, Mrs. Patel remained silent for a while, obviously not wanting to address the question. After a few diversionary remarks, she finally said, “Have an early night. Take care of yourself.”
After the reminder, Mrs. Patel hurriedly hung up the phone.
Staring at the screen, Leila’s grip on it tightened suddenly.
The next moment, there was a ‘ding’ from her phone.
It was from an unknown number: “Miss Patel, your bra was left in my car.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.